<p>GPA: 94/100
No class rank, but definitely not top 10% or even top 20%.</p>
<p>One honors class. At my school, what determines what courses you take starting 9th Grade including honors is your performance in 8th Grade. If your 8th Grade performance was poor, then you basically can't get into any honors class throughout your high school years. They just don't have enough teachers and enough room to put one or two students from regents to honors.</p>
<p>So AP's are a bummer for me, too. Self study seems like an option.</p>
<p>Many kids at my school who get 96/100 averages get average SAT and ACT scores. Just proves that we have a lot of grade inflation. </p>
<p>I don't do amazing EC's. I don't have any money to do it, anyways.</p>
<p>My dream school is Villanova and I want to be a Presidential Scholar there. I'm Asian, so I have to be super great to get into these kinds of schools, but apparently, I am pretty average for an Asian. Now what?</p>
<p>Hmm, that’s unfourtunate. I’m applying to Villanova as well Hopefully i’ll see you there. What program/school are you applying to? That alters your chances as well. If you don’t have the money to do may EC’s, they won’t count that against you. Plus, what is your SAT/ACT score? I’ve seen people get in with lower averages than you think.</p>
<p>Don’t despair about Nova–but don’t fall in love with any 1 school–the process is too unpredictable. </p>
<p>Why do finances prevent such valuable ECs as charity work? Can you be a leader in your school clubs? How hard have you pushed to be admitted to honors?</p>
<p>Sure I do volunteering, and in decent clubs, but can’t get a leadership yet, because they’re for 12th graders. I just haven’t done any EC’s that seem to jump out on the app. I haven’t helped people in Africa or ran my own business.</p>
<p>I’ve tried my hardest. I did good in 8th Grade. i just didn’t good enough. When I was in 8th Grade, I just thought that the best grades will get you in, even with no honors and APs. Now, I’m working at it, too. But there just isn’t enough room. At points, my school does want to add one more class in honors in a subject, but then, that doesn’t work, because there wasn’t enough regents kids that had the grades to be in honors.</p>
<p>Patience.
What year are you in? It seems you have plenty of time left to ace the SATs; get to a leadership role in a school club; and increase your outside charity work. And kids now in honors classes can drop out of the clas or leave the school.
I think self-study AP results of 4 or 5 would outweigh the same results from kids in AP classes–they show a self-starter who put in extra work.
Find some alternatives to Nova, so you can relax a bit–start with St. Josephs, Fairfield, Marist and Loyola/MD, all fine schools with a CJ major and much easier to get into.</p>
<p>To be honest, I am only a freshman. But my guidance counselor who has been at my school for years, has told me that there will probably not be any honors or AP opportunities anymore. She said that there is not enough teachers to teach. Plus, even if there is, there would not be enough regents students who have good enough grades to have one full class. She also said that I should remember in 7th Grade that around 10 Accelerated Math students were not reccommended for Accelerated Math in 8th Grade. And when 8th Grade hit, no normal math student got up into Accelerated Math. </p>
<p>I know I have time to ace the SAT. I know I have time to self study APs if ever. I know I have time to get a leadership in one of my EC’s. I know I still have itme to help people. But I also know that my rigor, class rank, and even though my GPA is good, GPA (since it is probably inflated), is already killed.</p>
<p>Self studying APs seems like your best shot. To me, it would also look significantly better than some kid who took an AP class, because self-studying and then scoring a 5 requires serious discipline.</p>
<p>You are freshman. You are thinking of what you can do, you are reaching out to others and have you the opportunity to do something on your own. You can start your own group, you can reach out to local charities and I am sure they would appreciate a HS student showing enthusiasm. In other words it is up to you and unlike many others who suddenly wake up in the junior year or senior year and realize that they are behind the eighth ball, you are ahead of the curve. You are already thinking of what your resume will look in three years.</p>
<p>Be positive and proactive, you cannot have negative a attitude right now. The post name itself denotes negativity (Sucks to be me). Have a good attitude, be entrepreneurial and good things will happen to you. May be you can take a class at a community college. In summer you can apply for research internships or work with someone in the field you want to get into. Good luck</p>
<p>Any magnet schools in your area or any schools you might switch to? Can your family afford a private school or are there any good ones in your area offering scholarships?</p>
<p>It is very disturbing that a student at an American public school who doesn’t make it into honors classes at the 8th grade level is told that she is closed out of those classes – no matter how qualified – for the next four years! This is exactly what American educators used to rail about in the old British system that tracked students at the age of 11. It sounds like a bad policy that will rub a lot of people the wrong way. I think it might make sense for your parents to go first to your GC and then to the principal asap to very politely challenge the policy as it applies to your class selection. If this doesn’t work, hmom5 has some interesting ideas. (And btw, this is not about getting into college; this is about not being permitted ever to challenge yourself in advanced classes that you are qualified to take and want to take based exclusively on your performance in 8th grade.)</p>
<p>People!!! People!!! I go to a premier college prep school on scholarships. My parents do not know English well, so they can’t do anything.</p>
<p>I’ve tried. And so have some of the upperclassmen. They say they had the same problem and apparently, no one addressed it. Last year, I really wanted go into Algebra I. I didn’t talk to my teacher much about it, becuase my performance was okay. But then, a student who got a 99 on the midterm exam, asked him about it in class. He said that nobody in the class can get into Algebra I. We all asked why, but he didn’t answer. </p>
<p>At my school, they have honors Bio, but no honors Earth Science. THey have honors Geometry, but not honors Algebra. It’s a win for those Advanced students who were advanced since 7th Grade.</p>
<p>Oh yeah the course placement book at our school says that if you ahve a 93 average in the regents course you are taking, you are qualified to take an honors course next year. Apparently, there are always 5-7 kids per Regents class that qualify for this, but still get denied when course placement sheets come out.</p>
Hopefully i’ll see you there. What program/school are you applying to? That alters your chances as well. If you don’t have the money to do may EC’s, they won’t count that against you. Plus, what is your SAT/ACT score? I’ve seen people get in with lower averages than you think.</p>